1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to tracking the position of an aircraft. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and device for tracking the position of an aircraft and a method for attaching a tracking device to an aircraft.
2. Background
Many aircraft carry distress radio beacons. Distress radio beacons also may be known as emergency beacons or by other names. For example, without limitation, many commercial passenger aircraft and other aircraft may carry a distress radio beacon known as an emergency locator transmitter, ELT.
An emergency locator transmitter on an aircraft is intended to aid in locating the aircraft after a crash. An emergency locator transmitter or other distress radio beacon on an aircraft may be manually or automatically activated to send out a distress signal. For example, without limitation, an emergency locator transmitter may be activated automatically upon immersion in water.
The distress signals generated by an emergency locator transmitter or other distress radio beacon on an aircraft may be monitored and detected by a network of satellites worldwide. The geographic position of an emergency locator transmitter or other radio distress beacon emitting a distress signal may be determined using a satellite navigation system, triangulation, or using another method or an appropriate combination of methods.
Current emergency locator transmitters may have several limitations. For example, position information provided by current emergency locator transmitters may not be sufficiently accurate or provided in a sufficiently reliable manner to effectively locate an aircraft in distress effectively. The majority of currently fielded emergency locator transmitters do not provide position information directly. The location of the emergency locator transmitter is determined by radio frequency direction finding or multilateration through satellite links. This process may take an undesirably long time and may not be sufficiently reliable.
The weight of current emergency locator transmitters may be relatively high. Maintenance requirements for current emergency locator transmitters also may be relatively high. For example, most emergency locator transmitters fitted to aircraft today are powered by a non-rechargeable battery that is relatively heavy and must be maintained appropriately to ensure reliable operation and to prevent any undesired condition from occurring. It also may be relatively difficult to reduce or eliminate undesirable tampering with current emergency locator transmitters.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a method and apparatus that take into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.